Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Tomb of Peacemakers


By Eric Margolis

"Afghanistan is rightly called `the graveyard of empires.’ We should call the Mideast `the tomb of peacemakers.’ In this troubled part of the world, real peace is as elusive and rarely-seen as the white Arabian gazelle.

So we observe with an abundance of caution President Barack Obama’s long-awaited Mideast peace offensive......

Long-simmering opposition to Israel’s expansionist policies among American Jews has recently erupted into the open, spearheaded by the new `J Street Group,’ which opposes the pro-Likud AIPAC and supports Israel’s peace movement, and creation of a Palestinian state.

Not surprisingly, `J Street’ is being denounced as traitors and `self-hating Jews’ by the rightwing Israel lobby. Compared to the 800-lb AIPAC, `J Street’ is a minnow. But this split in American Jewish ranks is very significant. There will be no genuine peace agreement or creation of a viable Palestinian state until the influential American Jewish community supports the peace plan.

But in spite of `J Street’ and other liberal Jewish groups, Likud’s lobby is still calling most of the shots when it comes to US Mideast policy. "

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